[lit-ideas] Re: Yahoo! Traitors with Clinton Sidebar
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 22:06:13 -0400
> [Original Message]
> From: Mike Geary <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 9/21/2005 6:47:50 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Yahoo! Traitors with Clinton Sidebar
>
>
> > It doesn't change that Clinton did a magnificent job of running the
> > country, even in the face of mind bending hostility throughout his term.
> > He's a policital genius.
>
>
> I'm not sure I agree with you that Bill Clinton is a political genius,
after
> all, he did lose control of Congress after two years in office. He let
that
> weasel little twit Newt Gringrich set the theme and tone of the mid-term
> elections.
A.A. Except that Newt wound up hanging himself with his own rope
Nor do I have much regard for Clinton's accomplishments in
> office. To be fair, I admit that I'm on the left end of the left end of
> liberalism. Clinton's liberalism seems much more in line with
Rockefeller
> Republicanism than mainstream Democratic Party policies.
A.A. You forget that he had to function in a Republican Congress. The
country elected Congress. That's where the mood was. Politics is the art
of the possible. He worked with what he had. It's why a Democrat was even
elected, because he was pretty center.
As a moral man
> Clinton has always struck me as very ordinary -- venal, vain, lecherous,
> ambitious -- like most of us.
A.A. I never cared about his morals. His sex life is his business unless
it's illegal, which it wasn't. The country was doing well, that's all I
cared about.
He is said to be very impressively
> intelligent. I have no reason to doubt that. But intelligence without
> courage and conviction is a waste it seems to me.
A.A. How much courage would it take you to go to work every day with an
independent prosecutor investigating you, and every newspaper and every
talk radio airwave in the country beating you to death over fabricated
charges? He was being accused of everything up to and including drug
dealing and murder. All of it was water off a duck's back. He still
managed to charm everyone who knew him. I heard Trent Lott on Larry King
Live singing Clinton's praises. Clinton had his eyes on the prize and none
of that crap existed for him. Bush is just the opposite. He needs
everybody to agree with him.
Clinton did nothing to
> garner support for health care reform -- he should have moved mountains
if
> necessary.
A.A. He did. He gave the job to Hillary and she came up with a plan, don't
you remember? It was rejected by the populace. I don't even remember the
plan now, but I'll bet if it was put forth now it would be seen in a
different light. Of course, it's impossible now since we can't pay for it
anymore.
He would abandon his appointees and supporters at the first hint
> of opposition, among them: Joycelyn Elders his Surgeon General and Lani
> Guinier, nominated for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.
A.A. I have no comment on that. I vaguely remember Elders recommending
that masturbation be taught as a sexual alternative to kids to keep STD's
down. It's not a bad idea, just an idea ahead of its time. We're still
working off of the masturbation is evil thing. I don't remember what
happened with Guinier. I don't know what you would have wanted him to do.
They say to pick one's battles carefully. He may have felt those battles
weren't worth fighting. Overall, his administration was effective.
> I opposed Clinton's support for NAFTA AND GATT.
A.A. All the former presidents supported it, Carter, Bush, Ford. Maybe you
have a gift for international trade.
I think his dismantling of
> the welfare system in this country was morally bankrupt,
A.A. I don't agree. Welfare is morally bankrupt if it becomes
generational.
his failure to act
> to stop the genocide in Rwanda was criminal.
A.A. I remember the U.S. was being castigated as the world's policeman.
Somalia was a disaster. He probably could have done more in Rwanda. The
good old days when we acted like a superpower, either defending or being
expected to defend those in need.
Had the Republicans -- almost
> to the man -- not been even more morally repugnant in their policies, and
> their attacks on Clinton so despicable and hypocritical, I would have
thrown
> rotten eggs at the man. As it is, I shake my head in sorrow, what a
waste
> of talent and intellect.
>
A.A. Your standards are very high. Effectively running the government and
transforming a budget deficit into a surplus merits a rotten egg from you.
Andy Amago
> Mike Geary
> higher hopes for Hillary
>
>
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